PREP SPORTS: Fairview, Hanceville on the move following AHSAA reclassification; alignments announced for fall athletics
Published 4:03 pm Tuesday, December 17, 2019
- Fairview coach George Redding (left) and Hanceville coach Cody McCain (right).
Fairview and Hanceville are on the move.
The Aggies jumped to Class 5A once again following a brief hiatus, while the Bulldogs moved up to 4A for the first time since 1995 when the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) approved reclassification for the 2020-22 school years on Tuesday morning.
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All other local schools in The Times’ coverage area remained in their respective classifications — Cullman (6A), West Point (5A), Good Hope (4A), Holly Pond (3A), Vinemont (3A), Addison (2A), Cold Springs (2A) and St. Bernard (1A).
In addition to various class movement, there was shakeup in many area, region and section alignments.
The AHSAA released those changes only for fall sports — cross country, football, swimming and volleyball — but will reveal alterations for both spring and winter sports at a later date.
West Point kept its title as the biggest school in the Cullman County Schools system based on student enrollment numbers — those are handed over to the AHSAA by the state department of education — with 414 students.
Cullman led the way again with a coverage-area high 760 students.
Fairview, meanwhile, rose from 348 to 390.
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Hanceville stayed almost the same, going from 287 to 288.
This year’s reclassification, which was approved by the AHSAA Central Board, also featured a handful of non-changes, including the number of 7A squads (32), the private school multiplier (1.35 percent) and the continued application of the competitive balance multiplier, which requires consistently successful private-school programs to compete in higher classifications.
Because of that, St. Bernard’s cross country teams will again compete in 3A.
One notable switch, though, came back in October, when the AHSAA approved changing its method of determining classification of its member schools.
Enrollment numbers from grades 9-11 were used instead of from grades 10-12.
The Aggies recently spent four seasons (2014-17) in 5A, notching a 16-23 record.
They’ll join a Region 7 that also includes West Point, Sardis, Guntersville, Douglas, Crossville and Boaz.
The move comes on the heels of a successful season in 4A.
Fairview won nine games, reached the playoffs for the first time since 2013, earned its first postseason win since 2010 and secured its first region title since 1998.
“We’ve been in 5A before, so we have an idea of what we’re getting into,” Fairview coach George Redding said. “We have a history with a lot of these teams, so that’ll be exciting. Having the success we had this year … that’s a morale booster internally as a school and as a program. Depth, though, is an issue when you move up. That’s something we battled hard when we were there before. But we don’t think about that as much as we worry about ourselves. We’re going to try to develop more and more kids to help offset those numbers. We look forward to the challenge.”
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are heading back to 4A after spending the past 24 years competing in 3A.
Joining them in Region 6 are Ashville, Dora, Etowah, Fultondale, Good Hope and Oneonta.
“We had an idea that the move (to 4A) was coming,” Hanceville coach Cody McCain said. “We were still trying to hold out hope of being on the cutoff. For the kids and the program and the school, we have to accept we’re a 4A school now. We can’t sit here and complain. We have to play the schedule eventually. The biggest challenge for us is we have to start acting and preparing like a 4A program. We’ve got to do the things other 4A programs do. Things like year-round training and comparable coaching staffs. It’s going to be a challenge.”
See local alignments for cross country, football, swimming and volleyball below.
For complete alignments, visit www.ahsaa.com.
Cross Country
Class 6A, Section 5: Arab, Clay-Chalkville, Cullman, Fort Payne, Mortimer Jordan, Oxford, Pell City, Pinson Valley, Southside-Gadsden, Springville
Class 5A, Section 4: Ardmore, Brewer, Douglas, East Limestone, Fairview, Guntersville, Lawrence County, Lee-Huntsville, Mae Jemison, Russellville, West Point
Class 4A, Section 3: American Christian Academy, Curry, Fayette County, Fultondale, Good Hope, Haleyville, Hamilton, Hanceville, Northside, Oak Grove
Class 3A, Section 4: Clements, Colbert Heights, Danville, East Lawrence, Elkmont, Lauderdale County, Oakman, Phil Campbell, St. Bernard, Vinemont, Whitesburg Christian, Winfield
Class 3A, Section 3: Asbury, Brindlee Mountain, Fyffe, Geraldine, Glencoe, Hokes Bluff, Holly Pond, J.B. Pennington, Pleasant Valley, Susan Moore
Class 1A-2A, Section 3: Addison, Belgreen, Brilliant, Cherokee, Colbert County, Covenant Christian, Hatton, Lexington, Marion County, Mars Hill Bible, Meek, Shoals Christian, Tharptown, Vina, Winston County
Class 1A-2A, Section 2: Berry, Cleveland, Cold Springs, Cornerstone, Donoho, Faith Christian, Gaston, Jacksonville Christian, Jefferson Christian, Locust Fork, Randolph County, Sacred Heart, Vincent, Westbrook Christian, West End
Football
Class 6A, Region 8: Athens, Buckhorn, Columbia, Cullman, Decatur, Hartselle, Hazel Green, Muscle Shoals
Class 5A, Region 7: Boaz, Crossville, Douglas, Fairview, Guntersville, Sardis, West Point
Class 4A, Region 6: Ashville, Dora, Etowah, Fultondale, Good Hope, Hanceville, Oneonta
Class 3A, Region 6: Carbon Hill, Holly Pond, Oakman, J.B. Pennington, Susan Moore, Tarrant, Vinemont, Winfield
Class 2A, Region 5: Addison, Aliceville, Cold Springs, Lamar County, Midfield, Sulligent, Winston County
Swimming
Class 6A-7A, Section 3: Arab, Athens, Austin, Bob Jones, Buckhorn, Columbia, Cullman, Decatur, Florence, Grissom, Hartselle, Hazel Green, Huntsville, James Clemens, Muscle Shoals, Scottsboro, Sparkman, Westminster Christian, Whitesburg Christian
Class 1A-5A, Section 3: Boaz, Cedar Bluff, Cherokee County, Danville, Decatur Heritage, Deshler, Guntersville, Lee-Huntsville, Madison Academy, Madison County, Mae Jemison, Priceville, Randolph, St. Bernard, St. John Paul II
Volleyball
Class 6A, Area 14: Cullman, Decatur, Hartselle, Muscle Shoals
Class 5A, Area 14: Brewer, Fairview, Guntersville, West Point
Class 4A, Area 11: Curry, Good Hope, Hanceville
Class 3A, Area 15: Colbert Heights, Danville, East Lawrence, Vinemont
Class 3A, Area 13: Brindlee Mountain, Holly Pond, J.B. Pennington, Susan Moore
Class 2A, Area 13: Addison, Cold Springs, Hatton, Winston County
Class 1A, Area 12: Brilliant, Lynn, Marion County, Meek, St. Bernard